Chapter 555: Who is HE?

　　A glowing screen magically appeared on an altar in the great Demon Butterfly Tribe. Visible on the screen was Meng Hao fighting Patriarch Huyan’s true self!

　　Duo Lan sat there, calmly watching everything that was happening. Her eyes glowed with a bright light as she focused especially on Meng Hao.

　　At the same time, in the great Wild Flame Tribe, a similar screen could be seen. It was the same in the great Cloud Sky Tribe, where Zhou Dekun and others were watching the proceedings.

　　Throughout the Black Lands, roughly seventy percent of the experts from the various Tribes were all paying close attention to the fight.

　　Virtually all of the Spirit Severing Patriarchs had sent out Divine Sense to circle around the region of the Heavenly Pursuit Tribe to observe the battle. What they were most closely focused on were the various divine abilities and magical techniques being used, especially those of Meng Hao.

　　The sounds of booms rose up into the air. When Meng Hao’s enormous tornado stretched high enough to touch the clouds of Patriarch Huyan’s night, a huge explosion rattled out. The black clouds were torn apart, and the tornado collapsed.

　　In that instant, Patriarch Huyan suddenly appeared in mid-air. His face appeared ancient, filled with a sensation of age that was vastly different from the appearance of his middle-aged clone.

　　His clothes were white, seemingly spotlessly clean. As he looked at Meng Hao, the aura of a Spirit Severing expert exploded out from him.

　　Meng Hao glanced back at Patriarch Huyan. During the slaughter of the Heavenly Pursuit Tribe earlier, Meng Hao had secretly collected some blood from various Tribe members. The blood was enough to cover five generations, which was enough for Meng Hao to conjure a Blood Clone. Were he able to collect some blood from Patriarch Huyan, then he would have enough to form a six generation Heavenly Pursuit bloodline Blood Clone.

　　Although the Ji Clan Blood Clone was mighty, the opportunity he had now was not one that he would come by often. Naturally, Meng Hao would take advantage of the situation. His eyes flickered as he exploded out with the power of the Seventh Anima and sixty four great circle Nascent Souls. As he closed in on Patriarch Huyan, he waved his right hand and said:

　　“Metal!”

　　As the word left his mouth, a blinding golden light appeared within the night’s darkness. The area around Meng Hao was filled with a golden glow that spread out with intense Metal-type power. It instantly honed in on Patriarch Huyan.

　　Patriarch Huyan didn’t say a single word. His face was grim, and a cold, emotionless glow could be seen in his eyes as he raised his hand and then chopped it out toward the golden glow.

　　In response to the chopping motion, the air in front of him was filled with intense coldness. It seemed to be a coldness that could extinguish will and sever emotions. This attack was none other than Patriarch Huyan’s emotion severing!

　　Meng Hao’s eyes remained calm. However, the seven Violet Sea Giants around him lifted their heads up and roared. Instantly, their bodies collapsed and transformed into a Violet Sea, which then surged toward Meng Hao. It instantly enveloped him, then shrank down and stuck to his skin, forming into compressed water shield that formed a barrier against the emotion severing Domain.

　　At the same time, the black night consumed Meng Hao’s golden light, which vanished without a trace. Meng Hao raised his right hand and pointed again.

　　“Water!”

　　As the word left his mouth, blood and seawater, life and death, the will of extermination circulated around him. Patriarch Huyan snorted, then lifted his hand and performed an incantation. He touched the forefinger of each hand to the thumb of the other forming a rectangle, then gestured forward.

　　Immediately, an intense power of expulsion shot out.

　　“BEGONE!”

　　The power of worldly expulsion echoed out, transforming into an attack that headed directly toward Meng Hao. It slammed into him, forcing him backward. Booms filled the air and he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. When he finally looked up, his eyes were shining with a bright light.

　　He could tell that Patriarch Huyan’s true self was quite a bit more powerful than his clone. Divine abilities and magical techniques that the clone needed time to prepare, could be casually employed by his true self.

　　“However, I have power that I didn’t use in the fight with your clone!” thought Meng Hao as he retreated, his eyes shining with a strange light. He quickly performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then pushed his hands out forward.

　　“Metal. Wood. Water. Fire. Earth. Five elements totems! Wind. Lightning. Activate! Seven totems!” As he spoke, a huge green-colored tree appeared in the air, along with a reddish-violet sea, a myriad of golden weapons, a raging sea of flames, and a stretch of frozen Frost soil!

　　Next, a roc magically appeared, surrounded by raging winds. Up in the darkness above, countless snake-like bolts of silver lightning could be seen. The lightning bolts instantly transformed from silver into red as they congregated in mid-air.

　　This was the divine ability most suited to Meng Hao, what he himself had created, the Seven Souls Totem Transformations!

　　They were perfectly suited to his Seventh Anima. Having fully unleashed all of them, Meng Hao waved his hand forward, causing them to transform into seven bright beams of light that shot toward Patriarch Huyan.

　　Patriarch Huyan’s face flickered, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks. His eyes flickered as he performed an incantation in which he drew a large circle in the air in front of him.

　　“Seven emotions and six pleasures. Dao of Thirteen Transmigrations!

　　“Happiness. Anger. Sorrow. Consideration. Sadness. Fear. Shock. Dao of Seven Emotions Transmigrations!” When the circle was completely traced in front of Patriarch Huyan, it shattered, becoming seven parts.

　　Each part was a different color, and radiated bright light as it floated through the air. Patriarch Huyan pointed forward, causing the Seven Emotions Circle to shoot directly toward Meng Hao’s Seven Souls Totems.

　　Meng Hao’s pupils constricted. This was a divine ability that Patriarch Huyan’s clone hadn’t used. However, Meng Hao wasn’t surprised. Patriarch Huyan was a cunning fox, and had held back moves in much the same way Meng Hao had. He was obviously well-prepared.

　　Seven Souls Totem Transformations. Dao of Seven Emotions Transmigrations. These two very different divine abilities shot toward each other in mid-air. Fundamentally speaking, the Seven Souls Totem Transformation could be considered the most ultimate powerful art of the Nascent Soul stage. That was especially so considering that the transformations were fueled by the power of sixty-four great circle Nascent Souls. Because of that, Spirit Severing power could even be sensed within it.

　　As for the Seven Emotions Transmigrations Dao, it was a Spirit Severing divine ability. It goes without saying that when the two slammed into each other, roaring filled the air and the ground shook. The black night was ripped apart and Meng Hao coughed up blood. Next, Meng Hao looked up and performed a double-handed incantation, then pointed forward.

　　“Seven totems combine!”

　　The seven totems merged together, magically transforming into one, a totem that was a mass of primordial chaos. It had no pattern, but if you looked closely, it almost looked as if it were formed from countless other patterns.

　　Meng Hao knew that the seven fused totems was most suitable for his use in his Seventh Anima, when he combined seven Nascent Souls!

　　Inside of him were seven fused Nascent Souls. Outside were seven combined totems. As a result, a state could be achieved in which the interior and the exterior were in unison. As of now, the true battle prowess of his sixty-four great circle Nascent Souls could thoroughly explode out.

　　Other than his final use of the Agarwood or Dancing Sword Qi, this was Meng Hao’s most powerful trump card.

　　This was also his first time unleashing the magic. He had rehearsed mentally in the past, but now that it was truly being employed, a roaring sound rose up into the Heavens. One totem, seven characteristics!

　　It was at this point that Meng Hao’s eyes suddenly went wide as he noticed that the seven totem combination was somewhat unstable.

　　“Although this is my first time utilizing this art, I’ve employed it mentally on several occasions. Furthermore, considering that my seven Nascent Souls are merged, there’s no reason for the totem combination to be unstable.” His eyes flickered as he realized that although his five elements were at the great circle level, when he added in the wind and lightning, the combination was not at the great circle. That was the source of the instability and incompatibility.

　　When Meng Hao mentally practice with the Seventh Anima, he hadn’t noticed this point. Now that the totem combination had truly appeared, though, it was immediately obvious.

　　Next, contrary to expectations, the wind and lightning suddenly changed. They stabilized, which caused Meng Hao’s mind to fill with shock. Apparently the transformations in the five elements totems had been provoked by the wind and lightning.

　　This made it so that the combination of seven totems produced a completely unexpected transformation, a transformation that would shock the entire world!

　　Meng Hao’s mind suddenly filled with sharp stabs of pain that instantly inundated him. His mind reeled and, even in the middle of this battle with Patriarch Huyan, a blank look suddenly appeared in his eyes.

　　All of a sudden, he saw a battlefield in front of him, littered with countless corpses, the ground soaked with blood. It was impossible to tell how many years of battle had been fought in this place, but the corpses seemed endless.

　　Dead bodies filled the ground for as far as the eye could see.

　　The only thing that was different was directly in front of him; a gigantic coffin. It was fully thirty thousand or more meters long, and pitch black. Meng Hao was familiar with this coffin; it was exactly the same one that he had seen in the sky above the Tower of Tang in the State of Zhao!

　　Most shocking of all, he could now see that carved onto the surface of the coffin… were nine butterflies!

　　Nine butterfly carvings which were indescribably beautiful.

　　The instant in which Meng Hao saw the butterflies, a roaring sound filled his mind, and the vision disappeared.

　　At the same time, the black sky above seemed to be ripped apart. Throughout all the lands of South Heaven, including the Eastern Lands, the Southern Domain, the Western Desert, and the Northern Desert, a bizarre power seemed to be stirred into action by Meng Hao’s Seven Souls Totems.

　　Outside of Planet South Heaven, the carved names on the Immortality Bestowal Dais began to flicker with shining light. Murmuring voices pulsated out and echoed around the Immortality Bestowal Dais.

　　“The five elements are fundamental. There is no sixth element in the world. Regardless of wind or lightning, both will turn the five elements upside down…. Except, this wind…. What is this wind? This is not a wind of the five elements, this is wind from the outside world!

　　“And what lightning is this? It is not lightning of the Nine Mountains and Seas. It comes from outside the Mountains and Seas!

　　“How could this be? What is happening…? Could it be that a life form from outside the Nine Mountains and Seas has descended, bringing this wind and lightning with it!?!?”

　　The trembling of the Immortality Bestowal Dais affected all the regions of South Heaven.

　　A woman walked out of the Rebirth Cave in the Southern Domain and looked off into the distance.

　　In the Milky Way Sea was an ancient boat that had been floating there for tens of thousands of years. On the prow of the boat was a corpse wearing a set of decaying armor. Suddenly, its eyes opened.

　　In the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands, in the ancestral mansion of the Ji Clan was a young man with skin like jade, the same young man who had blocked the path of Meng Hao’s mother all those years ago, sitting on an altar made from a cauldron. His eyes opened slowly, and within could be seen hesitation and confusion as he looked off into the distance.

　　Throughout all the lands, as everything shook mysteriously. Back in the Southern Domain, deep within the Rebirth Cave, was an area that even the woman-form roc would not be able to reach. Laying there in the pitch-black darkness was a corpse.

　　This corpse… was none other than he who had gifted Meng Hao with Immortal Shows the Way. Choumen Tai! 1

　　He had been dead, but in this moment, his eyes suddenly opened. Within them was a sharp, glowing light that seemed capable of causing the starry sky to shake, and even crush the lands of South Heaven.

　　As of this moment, there seemed to be no weakness about him whatsoever; clearly he was at the peak of power.

　　“Well, I woke up quickly,” he said. “I came to this world to spread the Dao. I sent out millions of seeds of the Dao, and in two hundred years, only this person awoke!

　　“Perhaps, this kid really is the one I’ve been waiting for all these years… to bring HIM back to life!” The instant in which Choumen Tai said the word ‘him,’ his expression filled with a look of recollection, as he recalled the image of a man looking at him and smiling.

　　1. Choument Tai was the corpse that fell from the sky in book 1. Meng Hao finally met him in person at the end of book 3. The most relevant interaction between them occurred starting in chapter 300